


Deosil

by ThusSpokeRaven



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: AHS, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Demons, Eventual Smut, F/F, Gen, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Love, Minor Character Death, New Orleans, Original Character Death(s), Post-Apocalypse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rituals, Rough Sex, Secrets, Sex, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Warlocks, Witchcraft, Witches, anti christ, coven - Freeform, months after season 8, spells, super natural - Freeform, witch school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-08-30 00:03:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 20,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16754014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThusSpokeRaven/pseuds/ThusSpokeRaven
Summary: Mallory was nearly swept away by the sea of changes caused by the other timeline. Her emotions drew her closer and closer to one woman.  A predator circles as Mallory and Cordelia circle each other.  How will they bridge the distance?





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia Goode's smile hovered at the corner of her lips.  It often did when she went from room to room in the Academy.  She had resented the hell out of her mother for dumping the responsibility for these walls and these young women on her lap, and yet when she found herself there, she found herself right where she wanted and needed to be.  She stopped by the Conservatory and watched from the doorway.

 

Zoe had come to the school as lost, shy and frightened of herself.  The young girl had found herself there. She's a confident dynamic woman now.  The young witch had become a teacher that brought out hidden depths in the students who looked to her with awe and affection.  She had become a council member who tempered her newfound strength of opinions with a hard won wisdom that would grow through the years.  Cordelia nodded to her friend and wandered on.

 

Misty could be seen through the french doors twirling her shawl amongst the roses.  The night Nan brought back her lost girl Cordelia was almost taken to her knees. Time in Hell had damaged this wild rose, but not uprooted it.  While Misty tended to keep to her shadowy trees and healing mud, she could be lured back to the Academy from time to time, especially by her dear friend Zoe or a whisper of a visit by the White Witch Stevie Nicks.  Cordelia's affectionate smile grew as she watched.

 

"We could just make like a mini swamp right there.  Totally make a hippie chick haven out there, then we wouldn't have to put out bowls of milk and killer vagina girl to get her to visit,"  Madison mused. She crossed her arms and leaned on the wall nearby. While she could still trot out a truckload of unpleasant, her second round in Retail Hell had smoothed a few of her rougher edges.  She could be almost....personable. "I'll let the kitchen know we have a full boat of hippies and flakey let it live types for dinner, so we don't have to watch her resurrecting the chicken. That shit just chaps my hide... and leaves my stomach empty."  She gave Cordelia a smile to take the bite from the acid and headed out leaving Mallory in her wake.

 

Cordelia's head tilted slightly as she watched Mallory watch Misty.  When Nan brought Misty back, Cordelia was almost certain the little imps eyes looked over to the quiet brunette.  When Madison came back, still shivering from her customer service experience, Cordelia knew that she had not imagined it.  Mallory had convinced the underworld to let them go, but the Supreme could not fathom how.

 

Mallory was a mystery on so many levels.  She had a confidence and control that should have been beyond her.  She was a gentle soul, but Cordelia could sense an iron core. The blonde sometimes wondered if Mallory would be the one to take her place some day. Is that why she was something else for the older woman?  Was there some Supreme instinct that told her that Mallory wasn't her girl in the way others were, that she was so much more?

 

Mallory's eyes flicked to Cordelia's.  The older woman felt them like a little electric charge.  That was yet another disturbing thing. How could one of her girls affect her in the way Mallory did sometimes?  The way her heart stutter stepped was disconcerting.

 

The young woman turned back to Misty.  "I always smile when I see her dance. I think that needs to be a Seven Wonder.  Creation of joy wherever you go is so much more a power on the edge of art than some of them."

 

Cordelia chuckled.  "It does seem to be a particular gift of hers."  She turned fully toward Mallory, her arms crossing in an unconscious gesture, protecting herself from what?  Heartache? She was a teacher and Mallory a student. She had no business even thinking that way.

 

"One of the new girls is doing a keto diet.  Turns out Coco can do net carbs too. I so need to take her to a Weight Watchers convention." Mallory said with a smile.

 

"They would never let her go and then where would we be?"

 

"Buried in an avalanche of fat grams and carbs?" the brunette quipped.  She turned toward the blond. "Seriously? I think I would be miserable without her.  Coco is completely clueless in any given middle class environment but she is just an incredible friend.."  Mallory came closer, but as she came to the edge of Cordelia's personal space eased back a half a step. "Is it time for your daily stroll?"

 

Cordelia's brow rose.  "Have I become predictable?"

 

Mallory's smile broadened.  "Could be called predictable, could be called comforting.  A lot of your girls watch for you every day knowing that as long as you are looking out, they will be safe and cared for."

 

"Are you one of them?" Cordelia teased gently.

 

"One of your girls?" Mallory sucked a little breath through her teeth.  "Yes, but maybe not like them." She looked one last time into the garden where Misty still danced.  "I had better go. I promised to help trim back the herbs.”

 

Cordelia caught her arm as she went by.  Her brow was knit. "Why not like them?" she asked in all seriousness.  

 

Mallory sighed.  Her fingers traced along the Supreme's jaw.  "So many answers to that question Miss Cordelia."  She was almost blown away by the daring of those fingers.  Locking away the shit-storm of the second timeline seemed to manifest in these little rebellions, her fingers telling truth when she herself could not.

 

Breathless with the feeling of those trailing fingers, the blond begged, "Just give me one."

 

Mallory moved into the personal space she backed away from earlier.  Leaning in, her breath caressed Cordelia's lips for an endless, too short moment before dew soft lips touched hers.  Cordelia breathed out a barely audible 'oh' as Mallory pulled back a moment before returning. Mallory's lips pressed more firmly on the Supreme's before she stepped back, Her eyes were downcast as they opened and she was easily able to pull her arm away as she hurried out.

 

Cordelia touched her lips in shock.  She had felt the effect of those lips shake things down to her soul.  The Supreme touched the wall steadying herself. Her usually busy brain was silent.  She took a cleansing breath and turning swiftly on her heel headed for her office.

 

Misty looked through the windows long after the two women had fled.  Her lips curved. The world was a dark place at times and she hoped what she had seen was the flickers of a candle being lit.  She had little doubt that they would both fight a relationship that pushed a few boundaries, but this was a magical place after all.  Who knew how it would all turn out, especially with the help of some mystical mice.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

* * *

 

 

Zoe smiled at her dear friend as she came into the garden. She looked up at the sun lower and gentle as the day was winding down.  The young witch and Council member slid on the sunglasses that she had hooked to the collar of her oxford. "Are you done dancing the roses flat Misty?" she joked.  She picked a white petal from the grass and rolled it between her hands releasing the scent, Inhaling she took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the garden and her companion.  She frowned as her hair flew across her glasses.

 

Misty's laugh came light and ethereal as she turned toward the darkly dressed woman now fighting the effects of a mischievous breeze in her long straight hair..  "Are you done twistin' the minds of young witches?" Misty teased back. She pulled the shawl over her arms and stepped closer. As temperamentally different as they could be, she loved being around Zoe.  It made her strangely happy.

 

"Never."  Zoe offered her elbow.  She patted Misty's hand as it came to rest in the crook.  "I'm glad you came." The darkly dressed witch’s fondness for the woman who seemed all light and air was deep and true.  She loved those times the young woman from the swamp joined them if only for a short while.

 

The blond bumped her shoulder affectionately.  "Me too. Turns out I had a project here." Misty offered.  She looked through the window at the now empty room. She loved the idea that this place all bright white paint and laid out gardens could be filled with life in the form of a new love.

 

"Yes.  It should be cool for the girls to see what you and I can do together."  Zoe opened the door and allowed Misty through first. She eeped as Misty took her as she came through the door and pushed her into a closet.  She looked around at the mops and cleaning supplies. "Misty?"

 

Misty leaned in close.  "Cordelia and Mallory." She did a happy little shimmy with her shoulders.

 

Zoe's brow knit as she tried to put that clue together.  She came up empty. "Cordelia and Mallory what?" she whispered back in the same conspiratorial tone.

 

Misty rolled her eyes.  "They kissed. I think it was a first kiss and I think they are gonna run away from one another now because they are both..."  Her hands said what she lacked the words for.

 

"They kissed?" Zoe said loudly.  She made sounds following that ended up muffled as Misty covered her mouth.  

 

The swamp witch leaned into her ear.  "Shhh. They are goin' be all self conscious and weird as it is." she whispered.

 

Zoe peeled off the hand.  "They kissed," she said in a more subdued voice.  Her mind was now quietly blown.

 

Misty nodded with a smile.  

 

"And....you think they are going to be weird and self conscious?" Zoe asked before shaking her head.  "I don't..."

 

"I do."  Misty took Zoe's hands.  "If they are left on their own they might get around to gettin' back to each other, but I think they'll each hide in their corners because they are all responsible and determined to worry about everyone else and think anything personal is going to interfere with that.  They need help."

 

"Like cupids?" Zoe asked, her face twisted comically.

 

Misty shrugged.  "I was thinking more like the little mice from Cinderella."

 

"Mice,"  Zoe breathed out.  She looked at Misty all hopeful and smiling and her heart melted.  "I swear if you ever tell anyone I was a mouse..." she concluded in a threatening tone.

 

Misty kissed her cheek.  "Never." She opened the closet and looked both ways.  "Let's get a snack," she shot over her shoulder.

 

Zoe touched her cheek, and took in a deep breath.  "The things I do for you," she muttered.

 

* * *

 

***

Misty smiled as she sat on Zoe's bed.  They had bowls and plates of snack foods sitting nearby as Zoe messed with the stereo remote.  Strains of Rhiannon came from the speakers before Zoe plopped down on the end. "So where should we begin, Yoda Mouse?"

 

Misty's laughter tinkled.  "Yoda mouse. I like that. You can be...."

 

Zoe held up a hand  "I am just Zoe. No mousy nicknames please and thank you."  She climbed up to sit with her back against the wall. "I just don't know how to drag those two into the same room in a way that won't piss them off or..."  she shrugged. "We are talking about the Supreme and someone I think could be a Supreme after her."

 

"And that is part of the problem.  They are both so determined to protect everyone that they would put their personal desires on back burners every time."

 

"I still think we should give them a chance to find their way to each other." Zoe said.

 

Misty grasped her hand.  "Most people are idiots about their feelings Zoe.  I figure that smart as they are, they are just as dumb about their hearts as 90 percent of the world."

 

Zoe's mouth and eyes rounded.  "When did you become a cynic?" she asked in a Santa Claus is dead voice.

 

Misty laughed.  "Help me figure out some drama to get 'em together, Miss Smarty Pants."

 

* * *

 

***

Honore watched the crowd below with little interest until... There was an intriguing scent to the air.  A small group of young women dressed in black walked across the Cathedral Square chattering brightly. His head cocked and his hunger peaked.  He stretched out and materialized in an alley close to the path of the witches. He smiled. "A herd of the young," he whispered. "I wonder where I might find their Alpha."  He changed his appearance becoming outwardly human and eyesheddingly boring. He began to follow, mentally debating whether he could afford to snag a snack before following them home.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia sat at her desk reviewing a file.  She had read the page a dozen times and still couldn't have told anyone what it had said.  She sat back and looked at the door to the room. Part of her wanted to find her mystery girl and corner her about the kiss.  A part of her was wanting to get up and lock the door and sit on the couch reliving the kiss rather than risking her heart and her place with the other girls.  The other girls....what would they say? Feel? She was the Supreme. She had to lead and not show favoritism or... Her brain shied from the word like a horse spotting a rattlesnake.

 

She held her head.  Cordelia stood up. She walked toward the door then stopped dropping her head.  The Seer turned back and sat back down. She swallowed her heart. A Supreme was a Supreme was a Supreme.  Even if she wanted... something, it would always have to take second place or millionth place. The young witches needed her.  Cordelia stood to go tell Mallory that she was flattered but...  She sat down. Thinking about those lips, that kiss and it would only get worse the closer she got.  Best to bury herself in work until the thought of the kiss didn't distract her anymore.

 

* * *

  


***

Mallory curled up in a dim, little used corner of the attic.  She had come across it during exploration and realized it would make for a perfect getaway when keeping her life in two timelines straight was too much.  She lost herself in memories here. Now there was a new one that at once crippled her, and let her fly. She hadn't known what possessed her. Actually Mallory was perfectly aware.  Her love for Cordelia was once a quiet slow consuming love. It was controllable, well behaved.

 

She knew Cordelia was a powerful witch with a great love for her girls.  She knew Cordelia would do anything for the people she loved, but knowing and being there in the moment when Cordelia killed herself to save Mallory and ultimately all of her girls was an earthshaking revelation.  The young Supreme to be felt not just Cordelia's power slam into her, but a tiny piece of that extraordinary woman's life and she had not been the same since. The love roared now, a fire that burned and fueled her

 

Mallory knew Cordelia wasn't hers.  She also knew that if she grew into herself as a Supreme she would lose Cordelia forever.  She curled up on herself in that tiny attic corner and squeezing eyes on tears focused on a sliver of a moment when she let Cordelia know a taste of the love inside of her.  She tried to imagine those lips and have them seal the door she needed to put her love behind.

 

* * *

 

 

***

Zoe frowned and tried not to fidget as Misty braided her hair.  She didn't know why she let her do it, but when Misty wanted to braid someone's hair, they tended to find themselves sitting there and taking it.  "So you want to make it look like one of the girls is in danger to draw them both out?"

 

"Or me, or you."  Misty said. "They love us, they would come."  She shrugged and she bound off the single braid.  She liked the other woman's waterfall hair. It felt so soft and lovely.

 

"They love us now.  If we manipulate them that way, they will not be so sweet."  Zoe stood up. "It's dinner time. We'll plot while we stuff our faces on whatever Madison told them to cook with you around."  She turned catching sight of the braid out of the corner of her eye like a cat chasing her tail.

 

Misty looked confused.  "I don't understand. Madison?"  She asked as she tugged Zoe's braid and stood.

 

"Madison doesn't want you raising our dinner from the dead.  We are probably eating okra or some crazy shit like that."

 

The ethereal beauty smiled.  "I like okra."

 

Zoe sighed.  "How did I guess you liked okra?"  She ran her hands over her shirt and pulled on her black jacket.  

 

"Psychic?" Misty drawled, quirking her brow.

 

* * *

 

 

***

 

Emily smiled as she looked in the little paper sack.  Her little brother Jake loved the little travel spoons her grandmother collected over the years, and so when she and a handful of the witches took an afternoon to go play tourist, she kept her eye out and was rewarded with a tiny silver spoon with an even tinier engraving of the Cathedral.  She felt like dancing. Jake would burst. She was about to catch up with the group when she heard a noise behind her. She frowned and turned. The sidewalk was full of ordinary people getting ready to avoid the evening rush on Bourbon. Shaking her head, she trotted after her friends with her hand on her hat to keep it from flying away.

 

Honore Foix-Castelbon smirked.  Witches could feel him nearby, but usually they didn't know what to make of the unsettled feeling.  He decided he could afford to grab a snack and feel that tasty life force with the witch power sauce slide down his throat.  The sometimes gargoyle moved in closer to the herd of young and tender snacks. Three hundred years ago a nasty little magic user turned him into a monster on the side of a church.  It took him almost a century to learn to transform to hunt and appease the hunger. Fifty years after that, he ate his first witch's soul and knew that he would never consume another verminy human soul again.  Even a gargoyle had standards.

 

He moved ahead and just managed to get the door to the cafe open before the young women reached it.  He smiled as they looked right through him and went in. Emily never joined her friends. She was a twisted burnt looking husk in a dumpster before the others even questioned where she was. The spoon for Jake lay on the sidewalk outside like a lost pup.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia's fingers tightened, crushing a page describing a very uninspired media request.  Something felt deeply wrong and it wasn't the kiss. Her brow knit as she stood. Her chest felt tight and she paced trying to localize the feeling.  Coco knocked and leaned in. "Dinner is ready," she announced with a smile. Cordelia chewed her lip a moment and went to join her young witches in the dining hall.  She always thought it was a shame that they had to get away from a single table, but her girls multiplying called for expansion. The Supreme pressed her chest to hold in the dread.

 

Descending down the stairs, she headed to the dining area.  She forced a smile as she headed for the head table. Cordelia's heart clenched a little as she noted the absence of Mallory from her usual table.  Her eyes found an empty table near the bottom of the room. She looked over at Zoe. She sucked in a breath. "Different look for you. It's... nice."

 

Zoe chuckled.  "Misty hair special."  She tucked a loose bit of her honey dark hair behind her ear in a rare bit of self-consciousness.

 

Cordelia gave a tight grin.  "The girls aren't back from their afternoon out?" She asked indicating the lower table.  She was getting tense from the feeling of a sword hanging over them. Divination could be a real pain as useful as it was.

 

Misty looked over.  "They are usually back by now aren't-"  She frowned as Zoe lifted her cell to her ear.  Her eyes followed the council member. The first member of her tribe had a deeply unhappy air to her that wasn't there just moments before.

 

"What?  Wait...wait.... slow down.  What happened to Emily?" Zoe asked.

 

Cordelia stepped closer.  "Find out where they are."  

 

Misty looked around.  "We're goin' with you.  Mallory would be good too."

 

The Supreme tensed almost imperceptibly.  "Mallory would probably be a better choice for holding the fort.  You and Zoe can come with me." She moved in closer trying to catch the voices coming through Zoe's phone.

 

Zoe slipped her phone in her jacket pocket. "The girls are at the cafe.  Emily went missing somewhere within a block of there."

 

Misty frowned.  "Maybe she went into a shop."

 

Cordelia shook her head.  "I felt something dark. I doubt we will find her alive."  She turned on her heel to get her jacket. The Supreme approached the door to find a pale Mallory nearby.  She opened her mouth to say something but she had her girls to take care of. The blonde headed out the door toward the car.

 

Mallory looked saddened.  Misty touched her arm. "Family emergency.  One of the girls is missin'. You should take care of the others while we're gone."  She waited until Mallory gave a small nod and moved toward the dining room before grabbing Zoe's arm and propelling her through the door.

 

* * *

 

 ***

 

The girls were huddled at a table when they arrived.  Cordelia touched each as if to ensure their safety. She stood and turned to Zoe.  "Stay with them." she whispered.

 

The Supreme walked with Misty in tow out of the cafe.  They looked and almost as one turned toward the alley. Misty looked distressed.

 

Cordelia led the way to a dumpster.  Her eyes slid closed in her distress.  She knew that Emily was in there. She had a bad feeling, but hoped the power of resurgence could help her young student.  Misty lifted the lid and looked inside. The young woman took a shaky breath. "She's gone Miss Cordelia. I don't know how it was done, but everything in her was just.....sucked out like."

 

The Supreme climbed up and looked in at the burnt and twisted corpse.  "Go tell Zoe to take the girls back and get the blanket from the back of the car.  She deserves better than this."

 

Cordelia soon wrapped the little redhead and placed her gently in the car.  She blinked back tears. No time for grief now. She had to worry about protecting her girls from whatever had done this.  She looked through the windshield and took a deep breath. "I will kill...whoever, whatever did that."

 

"More likely a whatever.  There are damn few humans who would be able to begin to suck away a soul like that.  Usually I can feel... like a trail to the underworld but she was just gone Miss Cordelia.  People don't eat souls."

 

* * *

 

***

Honore looked down at the car and smirked.  The group of young witches had been led away and now he had seen not one but several powerful witches.  He was very very glad he had eaten earlier. The gargoyle would have simply jumped on the older witch if he had not had his hunger curbed.  He had enough control to follow to what could only be a school or a colony of witches. A rich buffet. He leapt for the next building to keep the car in sight.  He would not lose his feast or his revenge on all witches for the centuries of hell he had endured.

 

* * *

 

***

 

Zoe went out to help with Emily's body.  She noticed the shaking hands of Misty Day as she accepted the too light bundle.  "Resurgence?" she asked quietly.

 

Misty bit back a sob.  "There is nothin' left to put back together."

 

Zoe turned to look at the blonde's face.  An armload of Emily prevented a hug but she knew Misty needed it.... and a whole night of Fleetwood Mac.  "We'll stop whatever did this."

 

Misty's eyes grew hard.  "Somethin' that hunts the defenseless?  I want to do more than stop it."

 

"I am right with you there Misty."  Zoe took Emily to the green house which doubled as the Supreme's workshop.  Cordelia was already there. She had several books and divination equipment out.  

 

"Put Emily on the table.  I have to prepare the body for examination."

 

Mallory came in.  "What can I do?"

 

Cordelia shook her head.  "I will do this. I can't afford distractions."  She stood. "Out," she ordered the three young women.  Mallory backed up staring at the closing door before turning on her heel and disappearing into the depths of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

Misty walked into the room, her arms crossed and her head down.  She stopped in the middle of the bedroom, in the center of a large rag rug that Zoe had found at a flea market and sighed.  Zoe walked past her and turned on the stereo starting up the Fleetwood Mac that had eased her beloved friend's battered heart so very often.  The blond raised her head, the pain evident in her eyes.

 

The young witch looked at the beautiful blond.  Her heart felt fractured at the other woman’s pain.  Stepping forward her hands covered Misty’s a moment before her arms slid around the other woman’s waist.  Misty’s head dropped to Zoe’s shoulder. They stood there for several minutes simply taking comfort in one another.

 

Misty raised her head, Zoe looking at her with deep concern in her eyes.  The ethereal woman touched her fingers to Zoe’s cheek before leaning in for a gentle kiss.  Zoe’s eyes closed as her fingers tightened on her friend’s back. The little whispers of breath on her lips as Misty left them and returned over and over were making her knees go to mush.

 

Pulling back, the swamp witch gave a slight smile and looked into Zoe’s face with a question in her eyes.  She knew that Zoe was important to her since they had first met and if all Zoe was willing to have with her was a friendship, she would live with that being the shape of her tribe, but she wanted Zoe to want more like she wanted to listen to Stevie the rest of her life.

 

Zoe slowly opened her eyes.  The logical part of her argued that this was a woman in pain looking for solace, but her bruised and sometimes frightened heart knew something more was here, and she was finally hearing it.  “90 percent don’t know their own heart?” she whispered.

 

Misty cocked her head, her smile growing as she remembered their conversation.  “At least,” she responded.

 

The young Council member captured the swamp witch’s lips in a slow passionate kiss. The Cajun moaned before her tongue dipped between the seams of the other woman's lips.  Zoe wasn’t in the 90 percent anymore. She drew her new lover to the bed.  She wasn't quite ready for more than kissing and holding her at this point, but she wanted Misty in her arms for the night.

 

* * *

 

 

***

 

Mallory guided the younger witches to their rooms and made sure they were settled.  Her shoulder was wet and salty with the tears of more than a couple of the young women.  They didn't know the circumstances of Emily's death, but they knew that their sister was gone and each found a reason to blame themselves.  The young Supreme to be had a long couple of conversations before she hit on the idea of putting them all in one room like a sleepover. The young women wept together until they crashed.  

 

Taking a deep breath as she headed out into the garden, she looked up at the moon for a long moment.  Mallory began laying a protection circle. She had major street cred with the Underworld, but it didn't do to take chances with anyone's favor.  A golden calf today could well be tomorrow's sacrificial lamb. She stood in the circle and chanted. Nan stepped out the shadows, her eyes and teeth bright only in the reflected moonlight.  She waved as she stepped lightly out of the deeper shadows. "Hi Mallory."

 

Mallory smiled.  Dealing with the little imp was a lot more appealing than dealing with the boss.  "Hi Nan. I wanted to talk about Emily." Straightforward was best with Nan who liked to get fractious with any other conversational tack.

 

Nan frowned.  "She's not down below.  Papa is concerned. Things are much less fun when there aren't witches to play with."

 

"What happened to her?"  Mallory asked as she considered the possibilities that would leave the famous Papa Legba concerned.

 

"Papa says she got eaten.  An old evil woke up hungry and with a taste for you guys."  Nan shrugged and looked around as if looking for some trouble to get into.

 

Mallory considered Nan's words.  "Is it something Papa is interested in helping with?"

 

Nan covered her mouth in a giggle   "He said a witch made this bed and he won't stop you all lying in it even for Cuban contraband and souls."  She looked back as if hearing a summons. "Oops, gotta go."

 

Mallory stared long and hard into the darkness at the end of the garden.  Paging through the endless books in the library was not her idea of a good time but if she recruited Zoe, that should help make it easier to find which witch had made this bed.  She had no intention of interfering with Cordelia's work. Maybe something could come out of that as well and if not, at least she wouldn't have to deal with her heart fracturing a little every time she saw her and thought of the kiss.

 

 

* * *

 

**

 

Honore moved in closer, but not by much.  A more powerful witch could potentially sense him more clearly than his little snack and what little he had seen of this witch?  She was certainly a powerful one. His mouth watered and his tongue slid bloodily over the sharp teeth that longed to rend spirit from flesh.  He paced along the edge of the fence. Here and there tiny gaps showed between dense foliage and wrought iron. This witch was powerful and her scent was almost enough to send him into a frenzied attack.  The only thing between himself and his dinner? An old perimeter shield probably put up by the damnable witch who condemned him. He pressed against it just enough to map it. It's upkeep had obviously been haphazard in the last century.  It remained, if soft in spots, the alarm portion of the spell silenced perhaps by students who abused the rules on the regular. All he had to do was find a crack. He could work with a crack.

 

The sometimes gargoyle began to search for a place to hide and watch and wait.  Dinner would be ready soon enough.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

* * *

 

Cordelia sat back as she looked at the remains of one of her girls.  Emily should have been safe. The Voodoos were largely contained after their leader became Papa Legba’s problem.  Thanks to her mother, the Witch Hunters were leaderless, scattered and without resources anymore. She stood and leaned against the table to look more closely.  Something had eaten this girl’s vital essences away and left nothing behind. No non witch types had shown up in the news like this. Was it something new to the area or something specifically hunting witches?

 

There were ways to communicate with the dead and she had never been so tempted to call in Myrtle Snow but she didn’t think such a discussion would render much.  She looked down at her shoes. Myrtle would more likely castigate her for the comfortable footwear than be able to add anything of value to this investigation.

 

Kyle came in and set down a tray.  “The coffee you asked for.” He had taken to his role as butler and guard dog with alacrity.  While he would forever have his rough edges, Kyle had slipped into his role and performed well.

 

She smiled.  “Thank you Kyle.”  Cordelia took note of his tired expression.  “How is the new wife?” She pulled down a text and her best bowl for grinding herbs.  She was uncertain what spell to try next but after the first waves of spells and potions, everything would be a long shot.

 

He smiled.  “She loves studying at the Academy.  Zoe is her favorite teacher. Anna never once saw me as damaged goods and I love that about her.”  He placed a plate on a small table near Cordelia. “You didn’t have dinner. Supreme or not you need dinner.”  He looked at her with a frowning earnestness.

 

The Supreme touched his shoulder.  “Thank you Kyle.” She was so relieved to see Zoe and Kyle move away from each other in way that didn’t end in tears and/or corpses.  Kyle found his new life with one of the young women that joined them in the first call for students and Zoe found her place among her books and students and both seemed content.  She watched him leave as she picked up the plate.

 

Cordelia placed the food back on the tray for later but poured herself a cup of coffee.  She needed to be alert. There had to be some kind of trail to this killer. She needed all her senses on high alert to spot it when it revealed itself.  She considered her plants. Perhaps a lost spell would give her a trail to the missing soul.

 

* * *

 

 

Misty opened her eyes and looked at Zoe sleeping beside her.  This bed was quite a bit bigger than the one in her swamp but somehow she and the woman holding her had ended up in the foot and a half on one side.  She almost laughed. For her, sleeping on the edge of the bed was a relic of the time she brought in a whole mess of swamp fox cubs when their mama had ended up gator shit.  She soon found them a furry foster mom but for a couple weeks they had puppy piled the prime spots on her little mattress. She wondered if Zoe had been pushed around by canines too or if she was tucked in tight because she wanted to be closer.  The thought made Misty smile bigger.

 

Zoe blinked her eyes open and smiled as Misty pushed a bit of hair from her face.  “How long have you been awake?”

 

“Not long enough.  My mouth tastes like envelope lick and I need to brush before I can give you a morning kiss.”

 

Zoe was puzzled.  “Envelope lick?” She shook her head.  “Never mind I get it.” Her head swiveled toward the door as a few sharp knocks sounded.

 

Mallory put her head around the door.  “Ooo. Sorry.”

 

Misty sat up and smoothed down her shirt.  “No worries, come on in.”

 

Mallory came in and looked anywhere but the bed where Misty and Zoe had been folded up together in an intimate but still mostly clothed fashion.  “Ummmm…” she addressed the ceiling. “Zoe, I wanted to see if you could help me with a problem?”

 

“You kissing Cordelia?” Misty asked with a bright smile.

 

Mallory stared at Misty.  “Oh wow, no.” She held up her hands.  “Really no secrets around here is there?  No. I have a sliver of a lead for Emily and I need help in the library.”

 

Zoe nodded.  “After lunch?  I have a circle in about 45 minutes.”

 

Coco popped her head in over Mallory’s shoulder and looked at Zoe and Misty.  A huge grin split her face. “Well damn. Turns out I didn’t need to break out the WD40 to crack open those lady parts.”  She turned her head slightly. “Joanie! “ she yelled “I won the pool. Where’s my money?” She headed back out.

 

Mallory rubbed her embattled ear.  “Ow.”

 

Zoe looked at Misty with a frown.  “Whose lady parts did she want to grease?”

 

Misty chuckled and clambered off the bed.  “I don’t even wanna know.” She looked over Mallory.  “I’ll join the party after lunch too.”

 

Mallory smiled in relief.  “Thank you both so much. I’m going to go check on Cordelia and see if she got anywhere last night.”    
  
The swamp witch couldn’t resist.  “I’m sure a little inspiration couldn’t hurt,” she teased with a kissing sound.

 

Mallory blushed and fled.

 

Zoe laughed.  “Thought you were worried they would get all weird if you confronted them.”

 

“As weirded out as she was findin’ us cuddling?  Kiss jokes would hardly make it worse.”


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia Goode was at her wits end.  She had tried everything she could think of and nothing.   She pressed her hand into her eyes. They were tired and feeling a bit strained with a night of running on every cylinder she had and every one she could borrow from caffeine.  She felt a little like crying. She turned her back on a still full tray of food and stalked toward another part of the room.

 

She took a few steps toward a now emptied bookcase on the wall.  At one point or another she had accessed every one of the tomes looking for something, anything that could put her on the trail.  Whatever had done this might have moved off, but more than likely it was just picking its teeth. Either way she was not about to let it get away ... but how to even start.

 

The blonde gave a little jump as a hand touched her shoulder.  Cordelia turned to find herself face to face with Mallory. There was a deep hunger written on her face.  It was intoxicating to know that the younger woman wanted her. She took a deep breath. Part of her wanted to see where this would take them, but she gathered up her sense of responsibility and her position’s dignity.   “Mallory,” she began quietly, “I-” 

 

Mallory suddenly pressed forward with near inhuman speed and captured her lips, almost bruising them with the devouring nature of it.  The earlier kiss was a gentle inquiry, this one was a demand. Cordelia off balanced by the surprise and the force went back into a wall hard, Mallory followed, not for a moment relenting.

 

Cordelia groaned as she felt Mallory’s fingers gripping her hips steadying her.  Her lips opened to the questing tongue, gasping at the press of a thigh between hers.  She was feeling things when this woman touched her that she never even felt with her former husband.  Her hands, at first startled out and open now closed on Mallory’s back. She pulled her closer, a fire being swiftly stoked.

 

Fingers massaged her breast before sliding down her thigh to pull her skirt up.  Mallory’s lips and teeth moved over her jaw leaving her closing her eyes on the ceiling, lifting her chin exposing her throat.  Teeth pressed just shy of breaking the skin above her pulse as fingers slid into her underwear. Her breath caught. “Mallory,” she whispered brokenly.

 

Mallory pulled her head back just enough to pull Cordelia’s eyes to her.  The Supreme looked into the other’s eyes. They were strange. Perfect. Almost inhuman in their intensity and fire.  Cordelia breathed out, “What are you?”

 

Mallory’s lips gave a fraction of a smile before her face took on that hunger again.  “Exactly what you made me.” She took Cordelia’s mouth and plundered it again as her fingers drove into the captured woman.  Delia wrapped her leg around Mallory’s to pull her in closer desperate for the feel of those fingers filling her.. She was being driven hard and fast to…

 

“Cordelia?” came a concerned voice.  Cordelia pulled her head off the rough wooden work table and looked around confused.  Mallory was crouched beside with a concerned look on her face. The younger woman put her hand on the Supreme’s arm. “Did you sleep here?” She looked around at the room. It was like a hurricane hit it.  “Supreme or not, you don’t have a bottomless well. You need to take care of yourself as well as us.”

 

Cordelia looked into Mallory’s eyes.  They were beautiful but not quite what she’d seen in her dream.  Swallowing, she pushed herself up. The Supreme left the chair between herself and Mallory.  From the look on the younger woman’s face, she suspected that the distance was deliberate. She looked to the floor and stood herself.  “Zoe, Misty and I might have a little lead. We’re going to look around at the library and try to see if we can come up with something.”

 

The Supreme’s heart twisted at the hurt that briefly touched Mallory’s face as she edged back.  Swallowing, she drew fingers through her hair. “Walk with me? I need a little sunlight, clear the cobwebs.”  She gave an encouraging smile as Mallory raised her head. “You can tell me about this might be a little lead that you three are following.  It would certainly be more than I have.”

 

* * *

 

 

Honore stretched almost catlike in the shelter of the tree.  He was resisting the siren call of the stone sleep that drew him almost as much as his never ending hunger.  The witch that stole his humanity from him bound him to his gargoyle form, but it did not hold him entirely anymore.  His human shape was an illusion, but it was his true shape and he held onto it with every fiber of his being when he was awake enough to wear it.

 

Hearing voices in the garden beyond the black iron fence, his faux fingers stroked back leaves.  The scent of the women standing on the grass reached him. His fingers turned grey and stone-like in his distraction.  Saliva slid off needle sharp teeth as his eyes blackened. The two greater witches drew him with power that spiked his hunger.  He vowed to devour them both when they dared to leave the safety of the shields. Biting down a rumbling growl he began pushing back the savage need to throw himself into the shield over and over trying to get to the two women as well as pushing back his stone nature.  He let the leaves fall covering his hiding spot again.

 

Cordelia stepped forward and stared toward the edge of the property.  “I just get the feeling that it won’t end until we stop it. If that is all Nan gave you, we need to squeeze every bit out of it.”

 

Mallory’s eyes followed the same path.  “I feel like its still there, just out of reach.  It’s waiting, hungry.” Her lips pressed. “Is there anyone who would know more about the hidden history?  The stuff witches might whisper to one another, but not necessarily write down? We’ll hit the library….”

 

“Let me work on that.”  Cordelia said in a distracted voice.

 

Mallory folded her arms and raised a brow.  “After you take care of yourself,” she said firmly.

 

“Are you seriously telling your Supreme what to do?” Cordelia asked with a feigned expression of disapproval and an amused air.

 

“I am telling a woman who needs to be strong for her coven that strength needs to rest from time to time.”  Mallory grinned.

 

Cordelia chuckled.  “And diplomatic.” She sobered and took a long slow breath.  “I’m not saying you win, but you might have a point. I’m tired and a little hungry.”

 

Mallory looked around with a grin.  “And might need a cold shower.”

 

The Supreme huffed.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Obviously not.  Hard to hear what sounds you’re making in your own sleep.”  Mallory barked a laugh. “Must have been a hell of a dream. I’m headed in.”  The younger woman made good her escape happy to have had a relaxed moment with Delia despite the tensions of their kiss and Emily’s death.

 

Cordelia covered her face until she had the blush under control and turned smiling toward the trees.  Sobering, she turned back and headed into the house with determination in her steps.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

* * *

 

 

Honore saw a few of the younger women who were apparently students leave the school and turn up the street.  The spike in his hunger in seeing the two greater witches was still with him and leaving him crazed. The girls walked in a big chattery mob, but he was certain he could tease a snack away.  Looking down at his human form, he made sure the stone was not visible before slipping from the tree and landing on the sidewalk. Looking around the trunk, he simply followed, his fingers pressing nails into his palm in his need and distraction.  

 

He wished this city hadn’t changed so very much since he had been imprisoned in his stone gargoyle.  Once in his youth, he smelled the smell of clean earth and the fresh blood scents of the butcher’s place, the plants that grew up everywhere around perfumed the evenings.  Now he smelled the concrete and exhaust and the smells of foods processed to a state with little resemblance to its true nature. He spat his disdain.

 

From the hidden alcove on the church roof where his stone form had been put by the witch he watched the changes.  He had seen flood after flood, carnival after carnival. People changed their feathers, pushed their natures further into hiding, but they still walked filled with fear and hate and lust.  Dirty things pushed out in the afterbirth of creation. Thought they were the center of everything. God must regret everyday that he let these vermin loose like rats.

 

The girls walked into a shop and browsed.  Honore smiled, his tongue slowly pulling over his teeth.  Witches busy putting on lip paint or looking at trinkets were witches busy not looking after their sisters.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Misty kissed the top of Zoe’s head as she came into the library.  “You skipped lunch,” the swamp witch observed.

 

“Seems someone inspired me to eat my breakfast a little later than usual.”  Zoe smiled and closed up the book she was reading. Her fingers found Misty’s and squeezed.  “Have a seat. Mallory went to get some water and then she’ll tell you about what Nan said.”

 

Misty slid into the chair beside Zoe’s.   She smiled at the serious witch, sliding her hand on Zoe’s thigh.  Zoe leaned and kissed Misty. “Now behave. Scarring Mallory more today is just not going to be a good thing, Yoda Mouse.”

 

Misty laughed.  “I hear and obey Zoe-Swears-She’s-Not-A-Mouse.”

 

Mallory came in with a few bottles of water and the coasters she snagged from the parlor.  She looked suspicious. “I just missed some making out again, didn’t I?”

 

“And it was a terrible shame,” teased Misty.  She jumped slightly as Zoe poked her tickle spot.

 

Zoe cracked open her water and sat back in the chair.  “So what I want to know is why Nan is chatting with you?”

 

Mallory looked from one witch to the other.  “I, um…. I did a little favor type thing and now I can occasionally ask a question or two of underworld types.  Nan seems to like me well enough so she came when I called. Strictly a courtesy favor type thing.”

 

Zoe nodded. “Courtesy favor type thing… definitely going to want to find out more about that later.”

 

Grinning tightly, Mallory leaned into the table.  “After she’s rested, Cordelia is going to ask around and try to find a lead that way.  We are going to go through the old journals and histories and look for our villain.”

 

“What are we lookin’ for then?” Misty asked as she looked at the shelves lining the wall.  It was an intimidating collection.

 

Mallory leaned back in her chair and gulped down some water.  Her earlier blind looks through the books had been a dusty load of nothing.  “Nan said an old evil, likes eating witches and a witch made this bed.” Mallory offered.

 

Misty rolled her eyes.  “Witches make a lot of beds they oughtn't.”

 

Zoe stood and started pulling journals.  “That little bit actually does help. Humans don’t eat souls normally.  Someone must have pulled together a big ritual to change this old evil into something that would.  Back in the day, there were a lot more witches, but because the danger didn’t get crazy high like it did for us their powers wouldn’t have peaked like ours did.  It would have been rare to find a witch other than a Supreme who could have pulled off a big transformation ritual alone.”

 

“So we might find something in the journals that might help point us where we need to go.” Mallory summed with a smile.

 

Zoe sighed.  “There are literally hundreds of years of journals here, every generation producing at least a couple diarists.  It’s still a lot of wading through cramped copperplate.” She looked at books in her hands. “I’m starting us with the older stuff.  Once I get us some journals going, I’ll go upstairs and pull the correspondence boxes and account books from way back too. Big ritual might be cause for some letters back and forth and almost certainly some unusual expenses.”

 

“Why would anybody make somethin' that eats witches?” Misty asked frowning as she blew a bit of dust off the journal Zoe placed in front of her.

 

Mallory considered.  “Maybe something they bottled up and assumed it would stay put.  Not the first time magic just pooped out and trouble commenced. It got loose and started eating?”

 

Zoe sat down and looked at the pile in the middle of the table.  “Just once I would love someone to come along and say “Oh hey. You’re witches?  Let’s sing Kumbaya.”


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

* * *

 

 

Freaking out and disheveled looking, Coco came running into the house followed by a flock of students.  She skidded to one side looking through a doorway and then, upon seeing no one in the room, ran to the other.  “Cordelia!” she called out from the bottom of the stairs. She patted one of the girls on her shoulder as she sobbed.  

 

Cordelia lifted her head at the sound of the yelling.  “Thank you Stevie. Just let the phone tree know what we need.  I have to go find out what’s gone wrong now.” She headed down the stairs.  “What’s going on Coco?” she asked as she followed the curved stairs downward.  She saw the tears and fear in the huddle of younger students and knew another girl was gone.  Her lips tightened. 

 

The Supreme turned to Coco.  “Contact all the girls using the school phone tree.  No more running around New Orleans for the time being.  No runs for beignets or tampons or to meet handsome college students for whambams.  If they need things they will give their house mothers the requests and we will make delivery orders.  Until further notice every one of the student houses is on lock down.” She walked the rest of the way down the stairs.  She looked at Coco. “I need you to take them in the van back to the Leighton Residence and then stay with them until you confirm that the House Mother is in residence.  If she is there, apprise her and let her know to lock it all down. Then you can return.”

 

Coco’s eyes were huge.  “You want me …”

 

“To be the strong, responsible and powerful person I know you can be.  You have a sense for danger.” She lifted a hand to forstall Coco’s protest.  “Yes, up until this point it's all been nutritional danger, but I believe in you.” Cordelia placed her hands on Coco’s upper arms.  “Open yourself to more, we need you.” She turned to the girls. “Now tell me everything.”

 

* * *

 

  
The four women stood in the greenhouse staring down at the latest victim Lori Corcoran.  Zoe pressed her hand to her mouth. “She was just getting a handle on the basics of telekinesis.  Yes, she bounced a telephone into the plaster, but she couldn’t even lift it last week.” She took a deep and shaky breath and leaned forward, her hair curtaining her face. 

 

The swamp witch stepped in behind her.  Misty wrapped her arms around her new girlfriend’s middle and leaned in.  “It’s okay to be sad,” she said quietly kissing Zoe’s temple.

 

“I’m not sad.  I am pissed off.  I want to split whatever did this into little tiny pieces and leave enough of it to force it to eat itself before I blow its ass up.”  When Zoe looked up her eyes were filled with steel.

 

Misty’s brow rose.  “Remind me not to piss you off.”  She squeezed Zoe.

 

Cordelia looked at the two women and shook her head slightly.  “I have the word out to every witch who is not living a mountain man life about this.  They know those keywords you gave me and to rack their brains for gossip and those nasty horror stories girls tell after lights out.  It’s just going to take time. I am tempted to raise Myrtle. She had the Academy more than Fiona after Anna Leigh and before me and so might know more.”

 

Mallory nodded.  “I think that we need to switch now rather than later Zoe.  Let’s get a list of ritual fixings for a mega transformation and the account books.  Maybe it’ll help us a little faster than scanning school girl gushings.”

 

Misty raised her head from Zoe’s shoulder suddenly and stepped back slightly... “The Academy….” The other three women turned to her. She held out her hands and tried to take them on her train of thought.   “It took Emily by the cafe. Lori was just a short distance away, but in the other direction. Why wouldn’t it hunt here?”

 

Zoe cocked her head.  “If there was a huge protection spell on the property, then every Supreme would know about it and be updating it and Marie Laveau wouldn’t have even gotten on the porch.”

 

“Unless it was directed?” Mallory guessed.

 

Cordelia looked at Zoe.  “Those transformative elements?  They will occur fairly regularly.  See if they show up with a massive amount of shielding elements.  Make sure to note which shielding elements. They can tell us a lot about what we are up against.”

 

* * *

 

 

Honore watched as the group he hunted earlier loaded into a van.  An older blonde looked around with a frightened air. She looked almost directly at him, shivering lightly.  She hopped into the driver’s seat and turned to talk to the young women behind her. He smiled. Wherever they were going was unlikely to be shielded.  He could snack at will and plan his attack on the two big witches. Honore ran tongue over teeth and transformed into his gargoyle form. It made him logy to do so, but wings if used discretely and well, were ever so useful in tracking people trying to flee in those damnable automobile things.

 

Coco looked in the rear view so often she almost ran them into a big truck, but eventually settled down enough to get them to the former Catholic boarding school that had become the first of the residence halls as girls joined the Academy.  “Leighton Residence ladies. Let’s go see if Mrs. M is in.” She ushered her little chicks in and looked back from the doorway. She felt like there was something big and ugly in spitting distance, so she slammed the door shut and threw the locks.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I welcome your feedback.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

The gargoyle came down on the roof,  He shifted his form and stretched. It felt good standing on this tasty buffet.  He was looking forward to this. Walking from one side of the building to the other, Honore scented the witches in the building.  Smiling, he stood on the edge. Below him was a fire escape that passed very close to where two witches, not as strong as the ones at the Academy but certainly stronger than the others, were standing in close proximity.

 

Coco paced near the door.  “I am telling you. I tried opening up like Cordelia told me and I think it worked... only now I want to wet myself because I think it's here.  I think the whatever it is has come to this building and….

Mrs. M grasped both of Coco’s arms and stopped her pacing.  “You are a walking nutrition label sweetness. You need to get a grip.  Ain’t nothing more dangerous than cleaning supplies round here. Settle down.”  She walked over to the little fridge under the window. “I have some wonderful decaf cold coffee.  We’ll sit and-”

 

A huge crash of glass splashed the room.  Mrs. M was flattened by a man coming through the window.  Coco screamed. “I come for you soon ma petite.” he said, his face turning grey and stony and his human form starting to melt as he wrapped a suddenly too large mouth around Mrs. M’s throat.  His black shark eyes followed Coco out. 

 

Coco ran and grabbed girls as she bolted along..  “To the basement.” she directed. The older woman grabbed a cleaning bucket with chemicals and rags as she ran.  Grabbing dish soap, she coated the stairs behind her ducklings. “All the way back. All the way back,” she ordered.  

 

The girls began panicking as they found themselves in a small room near the boiler.  Coco heard a crash as the creature found the dish soap the hard way. She slammed the door shut and bolted it.  “I have been kicked out of every boarding school there is. This is where the coal would come in for an old ass building like this.”  She pushed open the chute and shooed the girls up as the creature smashed into the door, Coco grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and as a crack formed in the door and an eye peered through, she fired it.  The creature howled at the cold compressed material in its eye and smashed harder. 

 

The older student started dumping the lighter fluid and oils onto the aerosol cans she had carried in the bucket before getting into the mouth of the chute.  She threw a lighter into the mess and started climbing. A heavy curved claw hooked into the hem of her pants and sliced into her ankle as she got her head above the ground level.  She screamed out as the students all grabbed her and pulled her upward. There was a swoosh and she heard a howl and crashing sounds from below, the heat reaching the chute mouth as she was pulled free.

 

The students helped her to the van.  “We need big fucking guns,” she announced shaking.  “F-f-fucking howitzers and shit.” She slammed the van into reverse and screeched toward the Academy.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Cordelia turned off her phone and frowned.  “Leighton Residence- no answer.” 

 

Mallory stood up nearly toppling her stack of account books.  “Coco went there.” She snatched up her over shirt and pulled it on.  “I’ll head over there now.”

 

Delia shook her head.  “Let’s not go off half-cocked here.”

 

“She’s my best friend,” Mallory pushed out from between gritted teeth.

 

Zoe took Mallory’s arm.  “I’ll go. I want to- “ whatever she intended to say was lost to the sound of the van taking a chunk of trunk out of the tree near the driveway and a screech as the side was crushed in driving right up the side of the wall.  Girls screamed as they ran for the building. Two remained behind to help Coco who was struggling with pain and blood loss. 

 

Mallory ran out and slid an arm around her friend, helping her while the freed up student ran to join the other young witches.  Coco was starting to shake with shock. Mallory swallowed hard seeing her best friend pale as death.

 

Coco looked at her friend and said, “I felt it, I felt it.  I don’t want to feel it, not even a little.” She couldn’t feel the terrible thing, but her head was swiveling back and forth still frightened.

 

“Let’s get you healed and then we’ll worry about that.”  She helped Coco to a chair. Mallory pulled at Coco’s footwear and then rolled up the pants leg.  She placed her hand near the wound and reversed it. Cordelia who hadn’t had a chance to see this particular skill in person before watched astonished at the very controlled power evidenced.  

 

Cordelia crouched beside Coco.  “The girls told me what happened.  You saved them.” Her hand cupped Coco’s cheek.  “You are a hero. I am so proud.” 

 

Coco took a shaky breath of relief as the pain vanished.  She had never been anyone’s pride before. She felt a million feet tall and not just from the pain relief.  Her head rested back against the chair. “We’re safe here…. Right?” She looked relieved at the emphatic nods.

 

Zoe and Misty came in.  Misty went to the door and made sure it was locked.  “Girls aren’t hurt bad. Just bruises from climbing a chute and crashing a van,”  Zoe observed as she looked out the window at the now messed up van. 

 

Mallory took a deep breath and looked up at her friend.  “You felt it Coco.” Coco nodded hesitantly. The healer leaned in and looked sympathetic as she asked “Did you see it?”

 


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

* * *

 

 

Mallory closed the door on her room which had become the temporary quarters of several girls including Coco.  None of them could sleep but she made sure they all were together for a feeling of safety. She touched the door.  Coco was amazing. Everyone cracked jokes about the weird gaps she had in her knowledge and social skills because of her upbringing and they cracked even more jokes about her gift but when the chips were down, she was the biggest hero of them all. 

 

Cordelia came up behind her fellow witch and hesitantly touched Mallory’s shoulder.  She gestured with her chin that they should go toward the end of the gallery where a small cluster of chairs gathered the sunlight.  Leading the way, she looked back thoughtfully at the other woman.

 

Mallory bit her lip.  “I’m sorry,” she finally said.  “You know, for snapping at you.”

 

Cordelia nodded and moved toward the chair that looked into the emerald leaves of the tree in the corner of the property.  “I get it Mallory. Coco means a lot to you. She means a lot to me too.” She gestured toward the wing back chair across before sitting down.

 

Delia looked out the window.   She felt as strong as she ever had but …  “You are a very powerful witch Mallory. Have you ever thought about the Seven Wonders?” 

 

Mallory sighed.  “I don’t want your place Cordelia.”  With her whole soul she didn’t want to drain away Cordelia. She feared it might be inevitable but she wouldn’t invite it.

 

The Supreme looked at her companion.  “What do you want Mallory?”

 

The other woman sighed.  “Just you.”

 

Cordelia shook her head.  “I’m Supreme Mallory. That means if I ever did take a lover, they wouldn’t just take second place.  They, you would be after every person in our coven. You deserve more than that. I watch my girls Mallory, all of them.  I know that when there is a homesick girl under this roof, you are there holding her hand. I know that you and Zoe are the go to when a girl needs advice.  Your gift is healing on so many levels and having seen it in action… You are truly extraordinary.”

 

Mallory’s jaw tightened.  “”With all due respect, fuck my gifts.  I get you are Supreme and you think you need a space around you to feel effective or Supreme enough but… “  Mallory snorted. “This is you trying to let me down gently?” She chuckled. “I lost everything not so long ago.  I am tired of losing what and who I care about.” Mallory stood. “I put it out there. My heart is sitting right there on the coffee table.  Pick it up, walk away if you’re scared but don’t dress bullshit up like its a favor to me.” She shrugged. “I have work to do.” Mallory walked off.

 

Cordelia looked out at the tree again.  She wanted to call Mallory back but why?  She didn’t think she had anything new to say.  The Supreme looked down a the coffee table and closed her eyes.  Her heart ached at the flash of pain and anger in Mallory’s eyes.  Standing, she headed for her greenhouse.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Honore snarled.  Looking at his arm he saw stone cracked and weeping tears of blood here and there.  The witch hurt him. The injuries were not so grave that he would be slowed down significantly but they hurt.  He hadn’t hurt from anything but hunger in centuries and he was angry. He looked through the rubble of the small explosion that took this part of the residence and cracked it.  A couple of men in the helmets and rubbery coats of this century’s fire brigade pulled at rubble with axes to make sure the fire wouldn’t restart. 

Honore’s distended mouth twisted.  He swore off normal humans long ago, but he needed fuel for healing.  He leapt for food.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Misty returned with a pot of coffee and some mugs.  She brushed Zoe’s temple with a kiss. Smiling, she drew her fingers over a braid that was working its way loose in all the chaos.  She pulled out the ribbon that bound the end of it. Her fingers worked their way through slow and gently. She smiled as Zoe closed her eyes and leaned her head back.  

 

The swamp witch began drawing light fingers up the back of Zoe’s neck and back from her temples as she unraveled.  Zoe’s breathing was light and even and oh so relaxed. As the last of the hair came free and flowed like silk from Misty’s fingers, she leaned forward and brushing that curtain back kissed Zoe’s neck.

 

The darker haired woman turned and pulled Misty into her lap, her lips at first brushing and light before growing needful.  Zoe pulled back to run her fingers over Misty’s body. Her eyes traced the trail. Misty took the other woman's chin and drew her lips back.  A kiss and a nibble at the lower lip before her lips explored the lovely column of neck before her. She smiled at the verbal responsiveness of Zoe and the way her hands massaged shoulder and her ass as Cajun sat on her lap.

 

“I want you,” whispered Zoe.

 

Misty nipped Zoe’s chin before kissing her again.  “I know you really do, but I also know you need to end this first.  I do too.”  She gave one of those brilliant Misty Day smiles and stroked Zoe’s face.  

 

Zoe appeared chagrined.  “When this is done, you and I are going away for a while.”

 

Misty got a concerned look for a moment considering how troubled things were at the moment.  “Promise me.”

 

“I promise.”  Zoe affirmed. “Anything for you.  Anything for that smile.”

 

Misty gave her another smile and then looked up startled as the door opened.  Mallory was looking everywhere else again. “Geez guys.”

 

Misty stood chuckling.  “It’s safe. We were just working out how to get you in bed with Miss Cordelia,” she teased as she moved back toward the coffee and poured.

 

Mallory snorted.  “She just tried to let me down gentle. Don’t bother.”  She sat across from Zoe. “Any closer?”

Zoe sat back in her chair.  “Coco added shark eyes and shape changing and stony skin to the mix.  I have been wracking my brains. Elemental, gargoyle, golem but why? Why would any witch turn anyone into any of those?”

 

Cordelia came into the room.  “I myself don’t know but I think I know who to ask.”  She looked at Mallory, who was busy looking elsewhere, for a long moment before turning and leaving. 

 

Mallory kept her eyes on the table.  “Pass me some books,” she requested in a tired, defeated voice.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I welcome your feedback.


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

* * *

 

 

“ Cinis est anima, oriri ex igne, revertere ad me, revertere ad me! Revertere ad me! Reverter”  Cordelia opened her raw and bloody hand and extended her power. Her jaw tightened as she went from chanting to screaming the ritual.  The candles of the circle reached for the ceiling but were soon overcome by the fireball in the middle.

 

The Supreme caught her breath from the cold tile of the floor.  Cordelia’s hands pushed her up from where she found herself blown back by the energy unleashed. She pulled the injured one to her chest as she sat up.  As the light in the room returned to normal she spotted a figure in the heart of the circle. She moved forward to find Myrtle laying before her.

 

Myrtle’s eyes opened and she looked at Cordelia.  “Why my dear must it always come to bloody fire rituals?  It’s terrible for one’s complexion.” She gingerly began to move from her prone position on the cold tile.

 

Cordelia barked a tired laugh and pressed a hand to her streaming eyes in relief.  She pulled down the hand and took Myrtle’s. Smiling, she simply stated, “The hard way is the Coven way.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Honore struggled against pain and the drawing of the stone eventually regaining his human appearance.  His rising anger soon pushed his stone sleep urges far from his mind. The bitch witch thwarted his hunt and caused him injury.  He would eat all the witches, but he would take his time with her when he found her. Pulling himself out of the basement, he walked down the road with a slight limp.  He could not afford to take advantage of his stone wings. Too much distraction from his revenge.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Cordelia smiled as she entered the kitchen.  Several of the girls from the Residence along with Coco had made their way down and were putting together sandwiches.  It was so blessedly normal. “Coco,” Cordelia greeted. “Come here. I want you to meet Myrtle Snow.”

 

Myrtle Snow stepped forward and and smiled broadly.  “Oh my dear, dear girl. Not only the hero of the hour but able to wear that wonderful Ricci alligator belt with those lovely shoes with such aplomb.  You my dear are a true blessing.” She grasped Coco’s hands. “Such a rare jewel. Were I to remain after I have reached the end of my usefulness I would so love an opportunity to dine with you.”

 

Coco smiled.  “And I would be honored to chat with someone who can take yaki hair and cats eye glasses and accessorize herself into a walking piece of art.”  Having many too rich and eccentric relations had strangely prepared Coco for meeting this woman.

 

Cordelia’s lips curled into an indulgent smile.  “Coco, I was hoping you would join us in the library.  It seems Myrtle has a dormitory horror story to tell.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Misty and Zoe joined Cordelia, Coco and Myrtle.  “Where’s Mallory and Queenie?” Cordelia asked as she watched them sit down next to one another.

 

Zoe smiled.  “Queenie is at the lockdown at Wharton House.  She knows how dangerous that thing is but swears she is more dangerous if it comes after the House.  Mallory will be here in a minute. She wanted to bring one of the account books with her and forgot it.”

 

Mallory stuck her head into the room where the women were meeting.  “I’m here, I’m here,” she said coming in with a few books stuck under her arm.

 

Myrtle stood slowly, her eyes almost round with shock as she looked at the young woman.  She stepped closer as Mallory put her books down. As the younger woman turned, she found herself face to face with the redhead.  “Uhhhhhhhh,” she said looking around for someone to tell her what Myrtle was looking at.

 

“How did this happen?” Myrtle asked earnestly.

 

Mallory’s brow knit.  “How did what happen?”

 

Myrtle’s fingers pressed her lips.  She looked at Cordelia who was rising with concern.  “What’s going on?”

 

The redhead shook her head and looked at Mallory again.  “It’s… not important right now. We… should talk about Honore  Foix-Castelbon.”

 

“Who?” Zoe asked as her eyes bounced between Mallory, Cordelia and Myrtle.

 

“He was known a few hundred years ago as  L'éviscérateur.  This of course was shortly after the exodus of the Salem witches.  He was a nobleman in France at a time when the nobility of France was enjoying itself far too much at the expense of the peasants, so when I tell you that Foix-Castelbon was exiled by his family for his activities, that should tell you something.”

 

“He made the Marquis de Sade look like a boy scout,” Coco summed up.

 

“Precisely.”

 

Delia frowned.  “We are assuming a protective spell around the Academy which was bought just after the Civil War.  How did we get there from a murderous nobleman in the 1700s?”

 

“He woke up about a hundred years after he was turned,” Mallory said quietly.  “The original witches might have had a protection in case he woke up and when the property was purchased there must have been gargoyle related murders because in 1870 there was a massive protection woven into the structure against the stone beasts like gargoyles and rock elementals.”  She opened an account book and slid it to the middle of the table.

 

Myrtle nodded and gave a smile.  “Very good Mallory. The story goes L'éviscérateur was very fond of killing the rude and the poor.  Given that New Orleans was still in the construction stage, he had a more than adequate victim pool.  When he slaughtered the non-magical son of a witch, the coven at the time gathered and cursed him placing the gargoyle he became in a hidden alcove.”

 

Delia nodded.  “Even with the power of an entire coven, the spell could be worn down around the edges by a man of strong will over time.”

 

“As the story goes, Foix-Castelbon was able to leave the hidden alcove on the church roof and go hunting during the Civil War.  It was not long before two and two added up to four for the coven at that time. They unlike the current generation cut their teeth on this story.  Unfortunately for this generation, it became a myth, a boring story to scare new witches with that had so many cobwebs on it, who would bother telling it anymore?  When will the stone monster come for you became passe.” Myrtle looked at Mallory. “He may well have picked the wrong generation to come out of hiding again.” 


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

* * *

 

 

Mallory watched Myrtle throughout the meeting.  When the witch with the wild red hair left the room, she followed intent on knowing what had startled Myrtle.  Zoe spotting Mallory’s goal, distracted Cordelia with a question about one of the students to keep her from following the other two.  She was uncertain exactly what the situation was but she had a great faith in Mallory. 

 

Myrtle reached the greenhouse and turned back toward Mallory.  “My dear.” she shook her head. “You _and_ Cordelia.” She looked gobsmacked by the whole thing and walked to one of the chairs in a reasonably plant free corner of the room. She sat down bonelessly and absently took off her glasses, wiping them.

 

The younger witch sighed.  What was it with perceptive witches mucking around in her love life?    “She doesn’t want me the way I want her Myrtle. She pretty much rejected me already.”  Plucking a leaf off a nearby plant, she crushed it to smell it, trying, without success to distract herself from a sore subject.

 

The redhead’s mouth opened and closed several times.  “You are in love with her?” It was on reflection obvious even in the brief amount of time that Myrtle had been alive this time.  They were far too obvious in their ‘subtle’ looks toward one another. “This gets more and more interesting.”

 

“Yeah.  Isn’t that what you were talking about earlier?” Mallory asked, the crushed leaf forgotten.  She moved over to sit beside Myrtle pulling her chair closer.

 

She gave a small smile and slid her glasses back on.  “No my dear. It isn’t what I spoke of earlier at all.”

 

Mallory blushed.  “Crap. You aren’t going to get all cupidy are you?  I already have two people trying to throw me at Cordelia.”

 

Myrtle chuckled.  “Given how often Delia was looking at you, I do not think you require much of a throw, but that is an entirely different subject.”  Myrtle took the other witch’s hands. “How, my dear girl, did you become a Supreme in your own right?” 

 

Mallory’s mouth fell open.  “What?” Her mind was racing.  “How did… I…” She was flabbergasted.

 

“The power dear.  It comes off of you in waves.”  Myrtle frowned. “What confuses me most, is that the ‘flavor’ of that power is so like our precious Delia’s.  It’s rather disconcerting.” She saw Mallory’s hesitation. “I am unlikely to be around long enough to cause trouble my dear.  If you would tell me, the story would go with me when I go again to the stake.”

 

Mallory startled.  “Why would you burn again?”  She couldn’t imagine walking to the stake once much less the multiple times this woman did.

 

Myrtle smiled.  “It is a mark of Cordelia’s reign as Supreme that she is willing to wipe away all the detritus of Fiona’s time.  I am a left over from bad times and people know that. I was just as complicit in the terrible events that occurred.  I killed the Council for Delia in her mother’s undeclared war as much for the fact that they were horrible people with no taste.  I should burn again.”

 

“Admitting and accepting of it.”  Mallory shook her head.

 

Myrtle wrapped her hands around Mallory’s hand.  “Please my dear, curiosity has killed this cat again and again.  A little satisfaction would do wonders.”

 

The other Supreme smiled and finally gave a little nod.  “There was a second timeline. I was at the epicenter of a tempus infinituum spell.  I remembered everything. I saw that no one else did, but it never occurred to me that other changes stuck too.”  She sighed. ”It should have been obvious. I was traveling one timeline to the other using a Supreme’s power, of course it would have been intact.”  She hesitated. “So if I rise, she wouldn’t fall? I could love her and not kill her one day?” Her voice had an almost fragile note to it, begging for one small taste of a happy ending.

 

Myrtle smiled.  “You have already risen, dear girl, whether you are aware of it or not.  I hardly know what a Coven would do with an extra Supreme but never fear for harming our deal Cordelia with your affections.”  She frowned. “So what happened in this other timeline that you found yourself a fully realized Supreme and how in heaven’s name did you manage to pull off an impossible spell?”

 

Mallory looked at their hands.  “The Antichrist rose and blew up everything.  Fortunately, we had a plan to sneak a couple witches past him.”

 

“...and if you want to destroy the world, you must first destroy all the witches.” Myrtle said vastly amused.

 

“We hid me in plain sight until my powers grew enough where I had a chance to pull off Tempus.  I almost died before completing it but…” Mallory’s lip quivered and her chest gave a heave as she tried to pull air past the knot that formed in her every time she revisited that awful moment “Cordelia completed the Sacred Taking.  She gave me everything and saved us all.” Suddenly the act of telling something that she had locked inside broke a dam and she was sobbing into her hands.

 

Myrtle’s brow creased and she moved closer to hold the sobbing woman.  It was clear that she had carried the weight of this terrible second timeline too long.  The fact that she was also carrying a love for the woman who had sacrificed herself for Mallory’s sake as well as that of the world was a horrible bloody additional weight.  “You need these tears my dear.” she said awkwardly patting Mallory’s back. She looked up to see Cordelia looking at the two of them from the doorway, her face wearing a look of great concern.  Myrtle sighed quietly and gave a tiny shake. Delia pulled back closing the door behind her.

 


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

* * *

 

 

Honore moved in his hiding tree.  So many hours since those foul firemen.  His stomach felt turned inside out from the distasteful meal.  His stone claws kept wavering into existence and slicing into the thick trunk of the tree as he watched the property.  A low grumble came from his throat as younger witches often came to the window to look out. He was swiftly losing his patience in his hunger.

 

* * *

 

 

Misty watched as Zoe entered the room still buried in a book.  She closed the book almost taking Zoe’s nose off. “Hey.”

 

The ethereal blonde moved across the room and turned on the stereo.  She began to dance a slow sensual turn around the floor. Zoe’s smile spread as the other woman danced closer.  The studious Ms. Benson put her hand out to catch Misty’s hip as she danced by. Their lips brushed, pulled back and returned.  The book dropped, forgotten.

 

“I thought we were waiting,” Zoe teased.  

 

“What are we fighting?” asked Misty with another brush of lips.

 

Zoe took a shaky breath at the way the kiss was affecting her.  “A psychotic gargoyle.”

 

“How do you deal with it?” Misty purred as she drew her fingertips along Zoe’s jaw.  

 

“Freeze it again, drop a building on it….stuff like that.”

 

Misty kissed Zoe’s throat eliciting a moan.  “Sounds like we’ve got a few minutes before someone comes up with a plan.”  Her fingers drew down the front of Zoe’s black shirt.

 

Zoe’s lips curled.  “Like your thinking Misty Day.”  Her hands slipped to Misty’s waist, drawing the other woman’s shirt up and off.  Her nail trailed the edge of the swamp witch’s bra.

 

Misty reached back but Zoe caught her hands.  Smiling, she released the other woman’s wrists before drawing her nails up Misty’s spine to the catch of the bra.  Zoe pulled the bra off slowly, drawing it out. She leaned forward laying her lips over Misty’s heart.

 

The blonde’s wavy hair fell forward as she looked down at the woman going slowly to her knees to remove the rest of the necromancer’s clothes.  Her breath caught as Zoe kissed her thigh so close to the curls that covered her mound. Fingertips and nails slid up her thigh and over her stomach as Zoe rose.  She shivered at the way that touch reached so deep inside her.

 

Zoe stood before Misty, her eyes moving slowly over the nude woman. As Misty’s dilated eyes caught hers, she stepped forward kissing Misty.  There was no shy brushing of lips here, no teasing. Zoe’s kiss was hungry. Misty groaned as teeth tugged on her lower lip to be soothed by the council member’s tongue.  “Bed,” she whispered breathlessly.

 

As the other woman turned toward the bed, Zoe reached out and pulled her back firmly against her.  She smiled to feel the flutter of Misty’s heart under her fingers. Zoe kissed Misty’s shoulder then nipped and kissed her way to just under her lover’s ear.  “When I’m ready.” Her other hand circled down toward Misty’s mound as the other woman leaned back into her. She tugged on Misty’s lobe with her teeth and ran her lips down that long sensitive throat.  

 

As fingers slid through damp curls to explore Misty’s clit, Zoe’s other hand massaged a breast, the fingers rolling and gently pinching the nipple.  “Zoe,” Misty breathed as her body began to move trying to force greater touch from either hand.

Zoe breathed in the scent of arousal and smiled against Misty’s throat.  “Mine,” she whispered nipping that oh so sensitive spot where neck met shoulder. Misty cried out and leaned back harder into the other woman.  

 

“Yours,” she responded, her arm curling back around to hold Zoe close to her throat by the hair.

 

A rich chuckle came from Zoe’s throat.  “Kneel up in the chair. Arms on the back,” she whispered.  

 

Misty turned her eyes toward Zoe, before smiling sensually and moving forward to place her knees on the edge of the cushion leaning against the back of the padded chair.  Zoe felt like purring as she saw the other woman opened by the position. She leaned in and drew her hair down Misty’s back eliciting a shiver. She placed her lips on Misty’s ass.

 

Misty lowered her head. Her eyes closed and her whole world centered on those too light, exploring fingers and lips.  She moaned and pressed back as fingers drew over wet labia. Zoe echoed that moan as she tasted the other witch on her fingers.  

 

Those lips touched, the tongue tasted the clit.  Misty moved restlessly above. Zoe smiled and leaned over Misty.  An arm reached around to place fingers on that exquisite piece of flesh.  The other hand slid down Misty’s spine to eventually slide fingers in. The swamp witch shook with the sensations Zoe was drawing from her.  

 

Zoe’s other hand slid up, massaging finger tips and nails at the small of Misty’s back and over her buttocks as her fingers sank deep into her lover.  A cry came out as Misty rocked back against her. Zoe smiled and increased her pace to answer the other woman’s need.

 

Zoe’s knee came up to rest between Misty’s.  The other woman rocked hard back onto Zoe’s fingers and her hip.  She was panting as she spiraled. “That’s it,” Zoe cooed. “My girl.  Give me everything.” She added a finger and pressed deep into Misty again.  The necromancer raised her head to cry out her lover’s name. A few more deep penetrating thrusts, and Zoe felt Misty tighten down on her fingers like a vice, cumming for her.  Zoe leaned into Misty running her fingers down the slick back before her.

 

Easing her lover down, Zoe pressed lips over that soft skin again and again.  Misty slowly rose from her position over the back of the chair. She turned to smile at Zoe.  “My turn,” she purred drawing a finger along Zoe’s lower lip.

Zoe smiled back.  “Oh?”

 

“Strip,” the other witch ordered as she stood and stepped past the council member pulling off her shirt.

 

“Where are you going?” Zoe asked.

 

“My turn and I need some belts.”  She smiled and raised an eyebrow. Zoe shivered happily and kept stripping.

 


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia saw Mallory walking out of the greenhouse with her head down.  Her hair curtained her face and her arms curled around the middle. When the Supreme saw her sobbing on Myrtle’s shoulder her heart hurt.  She did not want to be the source of such pain for the beautiful younger woman. She touched her lips. Delia wanted to give Mallory what she wanted, what a selfish part of herself wanted, but in the end wouldn’t it be better to let that infatuation die for both of them.

 

Cordelia sighed and went to the greenhouse.  “Not going to tell me anything are you?” she asked the older red head who sat in a chair contemplating her folded hands.

 

Myrtle sighed and considered a moment.  “There are things you should know as Supreme and of course, as yourself my dear Delia, but I told Mallory our discussion would go to the stake with me.”

 

Delia’s brow knit as she sat in the other chair.  “You are not going to the stake again.”

 

“You and I both know that not doing it would raise more issues than my simply walking to the stake would.”  Myrtle raised her eyes to the beloved daughter of her heart. “You are far too good a Supreme to ignore the realities of the situation.”

 

The Supreme lowered her eyes first before giving a half hearted nod.  “Never expect me to be happy about it.”

 

Myrtle gave a smile.  “Perhaps there is someone who might ease the aching of your heart Delia.”

 

Cordelia snorted and sighed.  “Interfering with my love life?”

 

“You could have a love life dearest Delia, if you stop for a moment and think about what is truly important in love.”

 

A harsh laugh.  “Really Myrtle, is it the resurrection that brings out the Hallmark in you or is this your wig on too tight?  I am a Supreme. I can’t afford distractions, especially now.”

 

Myrtle stood.  She adjusted her glasses as she looked down at Delia.  “Make room for this distraction. You will never find anyone who will fit to your life like your missing piece again.  She completes you and in ways you don’t even know. I see it. I wonder why you are the only one who does not.” She adjusted her silk scarf.  “Take my advice for what it’s worth Delia. I have a world to savor before I return to the fire.” She smiled gently and walked out of the greenhouse.

 

* * *

 

 

Mallory almost ran into Coco before she lifted her head enough to see the world around her.  Coco was standing by the french doors almost vibrating with her anxiety. She jumped when Mallory touched her shoulder.

 

Coco put a hand to her heart.  “You almost killed me Mallory,” she said breathlessly.  “Heart attack city here.” She looked at Mallory’s face.  “Have you been crying?”

 

Mallory shrugged.  “A little stress cry.  Nothing to worry about.  What about you?” she asked rubbing the other woman’s arm.

 

Coco looked over her shoulder.  “I am just freaking out. If I weren’t so worried about being eaten I would probably make a break for Vail or something.”

 

Mallory chuckled before she sobered.  “You’re worried about… Is it here?” she asked looking out into the garden.

 

“It’s out there.  It hasn’t gotten any closer but I feel that awful dark feeling and I hate it.”  Coco crossed her arms. “It so needs to be dead.” She shivered and peered into the trees.

 

Nodding, the other Supreme looked out the french door speculatively.  “Near as we figure we can either refreeze it or kill it like a boulder,” she said thoughtfully as she stepped closer to the glass, straining her eyes.

 

Coco looked confused.  “Is there a way to kill a boulder?”

 

Mallory hummed absently.  “I may have one really bad idea.  Can you point where he is?” She was squinting looking at the growth along the fence.  Her idea hinged a lot on how big this particular boulder was.

 

Coco puffed out a breath.  “You said there was a protective spell up right?” She looked at her friend with concern.

 

“Yes.  I mean it’s probably a little fuzzy in spots but its up.”

 

“Stay here,”  Coco said heading into the garden.  She stopped halfway turned and pointed.  Her eyes rounded.

 

The hunger tore at him like a claw.  Honore saw the bitch witch who had burned him.  He howled his rage and hunger and threw himself at the barrier.  It strained and stretched. His claws got into a trunk and he fought like a fury to rend and swallow this woman’s soul.  His eyes felt like flames even as the shield gathered and threw him back violently. All that was left behind was claw marks cross hatched over the bark of the tree he tried to anchor to in order to pull through and drink.

 

Every witch in the building felt a strange thrum at the rebounding of the shield.  Mallory ran out beside Coco. “Coco? Are you okay?”

 

Coco was shaking like a leaf, still pointing.  If she moved at all, she was pretty sure her knees would go to water and she’d be on the ground unable to run.  She wanted to be able to run. She wanted to run very fast. “Eep,” she managed looking down her arm at the badly slashed tree.

 

Cordelia ran out.  “What the hell was that?”

 

Coco eeped again.  Mallory stood in front of her.  “Breathe Coco. You’re safe. Come on Coco.  You’re scaring me.”

 

Coco looked at Mallory.  “It doesn’t like me,” she whispered.

 

“Because you kicked its ass Coco and now it’s my turn,” Mallory whispered back.

 

Coco shook her head.  “No. No. You said your idea was bad.”

 

Mallory shook her head.  “Now that I’ve seen it, I can make this work.  You need to go back up with the girls Coco. Take a hot bath.  Let me take care of this.” She nodded as Coco hesitated. “Go. I’ll take care of this,” she said with the weight of a promise.  

 

Coco headed back toward the house stumbling and shaking.  Misty and Zoe intercepted her. Mallory called out, “Get her to her room.”

 

Cordelia stepped closer.  “The plan you have, tell me.”

 

Mallory looked at her evenly.  “You’d try to stop me.”

 

“If it involves you going outside the protection spell?  Damn straight.”

 

Mallory pointed at the tree.  “It’s starting to get inside the spell.  It’s tried to attack my friend and it has really just pissed me off.  I am going to make it dead.” She started toward the side of the house for supplies.


	16. Chapter 16

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia grabbed Mallory by the arm and drew her to the garage.  “What the hell are you doing? You really think I am just going to let you waltz off and get yourself killed?”  She was frustrated with Mallory’s apparent need to run off into danger whenever a friend was in trouble.

 

Mallory pulled her arm free.  “I am stronger than you know and I am not about to let that thing eat my friends.”  She looked at the vehicles in the garage rather than Cordelia. It was easier to deal with Delia’s angry voice than that look she would get in her eyes.  

 

Delia frowned.  “Tell me the plan.  We can sit down and work it out.” she tried to reason.  She wanted Mallory to not go off half-cocked and get herself in trouble.  Part of her wanted to tell Mallory that she was beginning to think Myrtle was right but this wasn’t the time.  Her heart could wait until this was all over.

 

“And give it time to sniff out Wharton?  I don’t think so.” Mallory put her hands on her hips and looked like the picture next to stubborn in the dictionary.

 

“Anybody who ever described you as sweet and gentle never pissed you off.”  Cordelia took a slow breath. “Tell me as a third party. Make sure that this can be done.”

 

Mallory looked over her shoulder.  “Fine,” she puffed out. “I ride the motorcycle hell bent for leather past where he is hanging out and toward the demo site for that block of warehouses.  I can lure him into the right spot by looking like dinner and when he gets there, I pop out of the spot and drop the damned wrecking ball on his granite ass.”

 

Cordelia’s mouth opened and closed.  Rubbing her forehead, she tried to think of the best way to put her thoughts.  “That’s assuming a lot Mallory. You are assuming you can get him to the right spot.  You are assuming you can figure out how to drop the ball and that he won’t be able to dodge it.  You are assuming that you can safely ‘pop’. You are very gifted, but you do not have enough experience to do this alone.”

 

Mallory pressed her lips on her arguments. As an extra Supreme she thought she was uniquely qualified to do whatever it took and if she died, then the question of an extra Supreme was taken care of as well.  She looked at the concerned face of the woman who had her heart and relented… a little. “What is your idea?”

 

Cordelia gave a small smile of relief.  “Same plan. I go with you. I can magically snare him in the right place long enough for us to work out the rest.”

 

“I am not getting you killed.” Mallory said hotly. She paced back and forth in her agitation.  She almost smiled as she saw a piece of wire on a workbench and snagged it.

 

“And you are not getting you killed either,” Cordelia retorted.  “I’ll get the keys and we, together will take care of this.”

 

Mallory crossed her arms and paced a short distance and back.  “You are needed here Cordelia,” she said shortly.

 

Delia rubbed her temple.  She tried to remember if she had ever been this bullheaded, but she drew a blank.  “I will tie you up Mallory if need be.”

 

“Promises, promises,” the younger woman muttered.

 

The Supreme shot her a look and then laughed.  “You just keep surprising me.” She stepped in close to Mallory her hand on the younger woman’s arm stopping the pacing.  “I need you to work with me Mallory. I need you to come home.”

 

Mallory looked at her, a wounded look in her eyes.  She looked down and nodded. The one good thing about a possible suicide plan, worst case scenario she wouldn’t have to worry about being in love with Delia anymore.

 

Delia lifted Mallory’s chin with her fingertips.  She hesitated a moment, still fighting herself a little, but leaned in for a kiss. Her lips brushed lightly then withdrew.  Her eyes opened slowly. “I’m going to get the keys.”

 

Mallory blew out a shaky breath as Cordelia left.  She looked at the door with longing before rubbing the dry erase board clear enough to leave a message on the board.  She took the wire she found earlier and bent it into shape in the ignition wires. The engine rumbled like happy tiger and she got on.  

 

Cordelia was in the kitchen getting the keys off the hook when she heard a sound.  Her eyes narrowed as she tried to place it. She ran back to the garage to see the bike gone.  The dry erase board where there would normally be a list of supplies now contained a simple message.  I would rather die than ever put you in jeopardy. I’m sorry. M.

 

“I’ll kill her,” Cordelia growled.

 

Myrtle stood beside her and looked at the message.  “You died for her last time my dear. Seems she’s determined to do it for you this time.”  Myrtle offered a set of keys for the small sedan on the other side of the garage.

 

Cordelia snagged the keys and started toward the car.  She frowned and turned. “What the hell do you mean last time?”

 

Myrtle passed her and opened the passenger door.  “Seems rather silly to take everything to the stake.  What say we save dear Mallory and we discuss the end of the world on the way?”    She slid into the car and looked at the thoroughly confused Supreme. “Coming? We do, after all, have your potential love interest to save.”

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 16 is fixed now. It was missing the last part of the chapter.

* * *

* * *

 

 

Cordelia looked at Myrtle.  “I need to hear the long version of that later Myrtle,” she said firmly as she forced the gate to open before the car, focusing on the strip of gravel and potholes that passed for a road into the middle of the demo site.  

 

The woman with red hair gave a small smile and adjusted her glasses.  “You will have to have it from Mallory, my dear Delia, because I believe I have solved a couple of problems.”  Myrtle patted her heart’s daughter’s hand.

 

“What problems?” she asked as she pulled in.  Mallory was apparently still driving around trying to pull Honore, the witch eating gargoyle to the killing ground.  Cordelia was relieved as it gave her time to work out the best way to drop the ball and get Mallory away all at once.

 

“Burning at the stake is so passe and what better to hold the beast in place than a luscious beauty,”  the redhead said with a flourish.

 

The Supreme stilled and looked Myrtle full in the face.  “You want to be the bait.” Cordelia rubbed her head. “It eats the soul.  If it drains you before the ball drops you will be gone. Forever.”

 

“A very restful situation, I think.” Myrtle smiled.  “All this running around and living….it really is best left to others.”

 

Cordelia started to protest but stopped as Myrtle touched her cheek.  “I was always so very proud of you Delia. At least this way I will be going out on my terms and without having to worry so very much about what fire does to my complexion.”  The older woman looked at her protege with much love.

 

The Supreme nodded through the waves of sadness.  All of the things she wanted to say were crowding her lips, but she knew in her heart that it truly was Myrtle’s choice and no matter how it broke her heart, she had to let this happen.

 

“You must get to the top of that wall where you can manipulate the wrecking ball  Delia. I believe that I hear that ridiculous machine. I will hide near the spot where she is headed and when they get close I will throw Mallory out of the way.  Do beg her pardon for me later.” Myrtle was out of the car and heading down into the area where the ball rested heavily on the ground.

 

Cordelia got on top of the crumbling bricks and surveyed the battle zone.  She frowned seeing the ball laying on its side in the dirt.  Focusing she raised the ball as high as she dared using her powerful magicks, given she had no wish for the witch cursed bastard to get away.  A motorcycle swerved through piles of rubble. Occasional large puffs of dust and masonry showed where the gargoyle missed sudden turns and simply smashed through trying to get his meal.   As she got close, Mallory threw herself off the bike and after a heart stopping brief stumble ran for the spot below the ball.

 

Myrtle threw Mallory into the rubble with a wave, a cloud of dust enveloping her.  The woman with the unnatural hair moved into the shadow of the ball as if walking to her throne. She smiled, happy as always to do for her girls.

 

Honore saw the witch he had followed thrown the other way.  His hunger screamed into his ears and he howled as he realized that another witch was simply standing there.  He dove for her driving her into the dirt. He looked up at the sound of a creak and a thin whistle. Cordelia had simply released it over them.  The ball drove through him and into the ground with the power of gravity and Cordelia's anger.  Cordelia sobbed and ran for the ball to make sure the bastard was gravel.

 

Mallory picked herself out of the rubble and moved toward the giant ball.  There was a growing pool of blood and a broken off stone arm visible. “Who?” she asked weakly.

 

Cordelia wrapped her arms around herself.  “Myrtle,” she whispered. She took a slow breath and pulled herself upright.  “Let’s raise the ball. I want to know he’s gravel,” she said firmly.

 

The ball raised and all that lay beneath was crushed rock and a bloody human mess.  Cordelia blinked back tears and Mallory slid her arm around her waist. “Cor-” Mallory began knowing what Myrtle meant to the older woman.

 

“No.”  Cordelia said firmly.  “The ball was down when we got here Mallory.  You almost threw your life away,” she said tightly.  Cordelia pulled away. “You may well be a Supreme in your own right but this was not your call.”  Her jaw jumped and she stalked away.

 

Mallory looked down at Myrtle and the gargoyle’s remains.  She wiped the tears that got away from her. The extra Supreme looked up as the car drove away.  She would clean up the mess she made before heading back. Her eyes followed the car for a second.  One of them anyway.

 


	18. Chapter 18

* * *

* * *

 

 

Zoe watched as it played out yet again.  Enter one woman at one end of the room, exit the other from the other end.  It had happened over and over in the days since the gargoyle was crushed. She sighed and squeezed Misty’s hand. The whole Academy was feeling the pall since everything played out. Time to step up as a friend and a Council Member.  She cleared her throat.

 

“Mouse Yoda?  Mouse Zoe says it's time for some radical mouse intervention for Mallory and Cordelia.”

 

Coco slid in and leaned heavily on the back of the couch.  “Are we mice? Like Cinderella mice or something? I am so in.”  She smiled and looked from one to the other. She had watched the two Supremes acting like wrong ended magnets and she hated it.  Mallory needed some happy and so did Cordelia and she hated that they were being butt-heads about it.

 

Zoe looked at Misty with a raised brow.  “No more Disney for you two. We need a plan.”

 

Misty grinned and stroked Zoe’s cheek.  “We have a plan. We just need bait.”

 

As one, the two witches turned to look at the woman leaning in the middle.  Coco blinked and looked slowly from Misty to Zoe. “Ummm. But no “ she hooked her fingers and swiped them through the air “no claws right?”

 

Zoe shrugged.  “No mortal danger.  Just you screaming.”

 

Coco smiled broadly.  “At last, a plan I’m good at.”  She leaned in and whispered. “Where do we start?”

 

* * *

 

 

Zoe ran her fingers around the symbol she had put on the outside of the two doors into the room they had chosen.  It had been the bedroom of some school head in years past with one door leading to a stair and the other to a hall full of student rooms.  Zoe looked over at her lover slash partner in crime who was putting the same symbol on the french doors leading to a small balcony with a ladder leaning on it.

 

Misty frowned, tilting her head as she studied the trail of salt water that she used. It dried quickly so she was working furiously.   “Who’s bright idea was it to do this in water?”

 

Zoe snorted.  “Something easily visible would have meant  Cordelia would be know what spell to counter with to enable her to use transmutation.  We need them both frustrated. Frustrated means yelling at us, then each other, which, with luck, means talking to each other.”  She checked that the other components of the snare were in place, tiny cold iron nails almost invisible in the baseboard and a bit of knotted string hidden behind the dresser.

 

“And maybe a side order of hot monkey sex after,” Coco said with a grin.  “Got some fresh bedding and there’s water and and finger foods in the hall.  I’ll dump that on the bedside.” She squealed a little. “I love this plan.” She started making up the bed happily.

 

Misty and Zoe looked at each other a moment.  Zoe grinned and went back to work. Misty chuckled.  “Got a mouse name yet?” she asked the very enthusiastic member of the team.

 

“Can I be Xena, Warrior Mouse?”  Coco asked hopefully.

 

“No,” came from two throats.

 

Coco muttered and threw on the pillows with slightly more force than necessary.

 

\--

 

Zoe smiled as she waved to the girls leaving, their black clothes making them look like a murder of crows on the way to pick at a corpse instead of women off to reclaim the city that they had been shut away from because of gargoyle boy.  She pulled her phone from her back pocket and dialed. Four rings and Misty answered with an exasperated sigh. Zoe laughed. “You hit the wrong button again?”

 

“Ha ha ha.  Tech sucks.” Misty grumbled.  “They away?”

 

“We are go for Operation Mouse Trap,” Zoe said with a grin.  “Know where your target is?” She asked as she locked the front door and started jogging up the stairs.

 

“I just gotta fish her outta her office.”

 

“I’ll call Coco and five minutes from now, she’ll be screaming like a banshee.”

 

“Sonic the Mouse,” joked Misty.

 

“Go away Yoda Mouse,” Zoe said affectionately before hanging up.  She dialed Coco. “Five minutes then go,” she said barely waiting for an acknowledgement before hanging up and heading for Mallory’s corner of the house.

 

Misty pinched her cheeks to raise up her color and and huffed and puffed before barging through the door recklessly.  “Miss Cordelia,” she half shouted.

 

Cordelia turned toward Misty.  “What on Earth?”

 

Zoe leaned over one of the crates that lined Mallory’s little bolt hole.  The other woman had put aside her book and pushed herself up when the Council Member ran in out of breath.

 

“It’s Coco.  She was acting… I don’t know … crazy.  Saying something about her spidey sense.  She ran upstairs.”

 

Cordelia was already walking toward the stairs when the screams began.

 

Mallory tore down the hall.  “Coco,” she shouted.

 

They ended up in the bedroom at the same time.  Two well timed shoves got them through the doorway as the doors behind slammed.  They both looked at each other then at Coco who gave a nervous grin before giving a curtsey and pulling the french doors closed.  She clambered down the ladder.

 

Mallory looked over at Cordelia before turning and yanking at her door.  “Stuck!” She kicked it.

 

Cordelia pulled at her door before trying the French door. She frowned on seeing the ladder falling out of view.  “Was this your big plan too?” she snarled. The Supreme tried to use transmutation. She merely appeared near a different wall.  “Oh no no no no no.”

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I welcome your feedback.

* * *

* * *

 

 

Mallory pounded the door, anger apparent on her face.  “Let us out!” she shouted. “Damn it Coco!” She kicked the door again.

 

Cordelia shook her head as she leaned in to look at the far door at a different angle.  “I think Zoe must have been a part of this.” Her brow rose as she realized just how clever her Councillor had gotten with the spell work.

 

“She was,”  Mallory said with a smash against the door in frustration.

 

Cordelia tried to follow the little traces left behind by salt in the water.  “She has become really good at the invisible wards.”

 

“Gee let’s give her a gold star.”  Mallory ran her fingers through her hair.  “Un-fucking-believable.” She looked darkly at Cordelia.  “You know this is your fault.”

 

“My fault?” Cordelia said indignantly as she stood upright and turned.  “What did I do?”

 

“You with the avoiding me?  Of course they were going to get fucking proactive.  It’s what we witches do. We fucking fuck up and we meddle.”

 

“Oh so you haven’t escaped the room when I come around?”

 

“I disappear so you can spend time with the other girls without you bolting in the middle.  I killed Myrtle so you hate me and …” her voice broke a little “ and I don’t want them to suffer too.”

 

“Oh for…”  Cordelia paced.  She had been avoiding at first because of her anger and then later because she thought Mallory wanted it.  She was now angry with herself as much as this whole crazy situation. 

 

She strode fiercely to Mallory and drove her to the wall. She kissed her.  Pulling back, she took a heavy breath. Mallory’s eyes shone as she stared back.  Cordelia’s hand slid up the back of the other witch’s neck to tangle in her hair. Pulling Mallory’s head to the side to the intoxicating sound of her breath becoming fast and light, Cordelia nipped her throat and ran the tip of her tongue to the earlobe.  She sucked it into her mouth and tugged it lightly with her teeth before whispering. “I could never hate you,” to the trembling younger witch.

 

Mallory’s fingers curled into Cordelia’s shirt near her waist.  “I just couldn’t imagine getting you hurt,” she whispered. “It was your call. I’m so sorry.”  The tears rolled slowly down her cheek.

 

Cordelia pulled back.  She shook her head. “No more.”  She leaned in and took Mallory’s lips.  Her leg pressed between Mallory’s as she tasted the saltiness from the tears.  “You’re mine and we will go from here. Do you understand?” 

 

Mallory looked at her with molten brown eyes.  She gave a nod. “Yours,” she whispered once and for all settling the idea that an extra Supreme would forever be an outsider.  

 

The look in Cordelia’s eyes softened at the acknowledgement.  She kissed the other woman with fire but no longer any anger. She slid her hands down to Mallory’s and stepped back pulling Mallory to the bed.  The Supreme pressed the powerful young witch to sit on the edge. Cordelia drew Mallory’s chin up with her fingertips. Their kiss was soft, slow and claiming.  Mallory’s fingers drew up Cordelia’s inner thigh to press the underwear beneath the skirt. “So wet,” she whispered.

 

Cordelia felt her knees weaken at the touch and so placed her hands on Mallory’s shoulders as she placed her knees on either side of the younger witch on the bed.  Her hips rolled moving her clit against the exploring fingers on the other side of that cloth. 

 

Mallory pulled back slightly, her lips kiss bruised.  Her lips curled in a smile as she used her magic to toss her lover to the pillows.  She crawled up those thighs pressing the skirt up and licking the salty sweet skin until she reached the underwear.  She pressed her lips on the clit through the cloth.

 

Delia’s breath caught.  “Naughty,” she chided.

 

Mallory climbed up, her hand slipping into Cordelia’s underwear to slide along the slick labia as she did so. “Paying homage to my Supreme,” she purred.

 

Cordelia rolled them over without dislodging those fingers.  She pressed into them as she looked down at Mallory. “A little lip service never hurt I suppose.”  She pulled off the underwear and moved upward. She smiled as Mallory’s arm curled over her thigh as she lowered herself to Mallory’s mouth.

 

Mallory stroked her tongue slowly and firmly over the clit before exploring in earnest, happy, truly happy hearing and feeling Cordelia’s reactions above her.  The creak of the metal work in the headboard told her when Cordelia began clinging to it as she moved against the younger witch’s talented mouth. She found her new favorite flavor as the Supreme grew wetter than she ever dreamed possible.  It was a forgone conclusion that she would slip her fingers deep inside to feel that silk and seek out the places that pushed Cordelia higher.

 

Cordelia’s eyes were closed as her head fell back.  Mallory was weaving a spell with her touch, driving the Supreme to heights that Hank never even dreamed of reaching with her.  She felt a powerful orgasm build then sweep through her as she screamed Mallory’s name. She fell forward against the metal and clung to it through aftershock after aftershock.  

 

Mallory eased out of her lover and ran her fingers and lips over Cordelia’s thighs.  She was in awe. She moved up slightly to unbutton Cordelia’s shirt and skirt. Her lips curled as she saw the other woman looking down at her.  Her eyes closed and she pressed her cheek into Cordelia’s hand. She was a truly powerful witch in her own right, a Supreme but she was not here to lead.  Mallory belonged to her Supreme and she would be anything Cordelia needed her to be.

 

Cordelia stripped off the clothes that Mallory had unbuttoned for her and moving down drew Mallory into a kiss.  Her tongue brushed lightly at the other woman’s, tasting herself. Tugging, she got the younger woman undressed as well.  Perfect love, perfect trust, she thought as she looked into those well-deep eyes. Cordelia drew Mallory to sit again on the edge of the bed.  She knelt between her legs and drew her fingers down to sample her lover’s own juices.

 

Mallory shivered in pleasure as Cordelia stroked her clit with too light fingertips before pressing in and devouring her clit.  Mallory lay back spreading herself to her Supreme even further. “Oh goddess,” she whispered as she arched as she felt herself almost short circuited by the other woman’s touch.  

 

It was hours before they lay lazily wrapped in each other enjoying the finger foods.  “Revenge?” Mallory asked popping a grape into Cordelia’s mouth.

 

Cordelia thought about it a moment.  “I’m thinking no. We would have gone on pig headedly indefinitely otherwise.  Maybe a little punishment.”

 

Mallory laughed.  “Make them write lines in salt water.”

 

“Mmmm Myrtle was right.  You are my missing piece,” Cordelia said with a smile as she tweaked her lover’s nipple.

 


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

* * *

 

Coco came running in to find Zoe laying over Misty’s knee, her ass glowing like Rudolph’s nose as Misty’s fingers pumped in and out.  She came to screeching halt, sliding slightly on the well waxed floor. “Eep.”

 

The swamp witch got her mind on the other woman in the room first.  She looked up at Coco. “Coco, are they done rocking the bed into the wall?” she asked, still slowly moving her fingers.  Zoe groaned. She had been so close she could just scream at the timing. She looked over to Coco, her bound hands coming up to balance her as she turned as much as she could toward the gluten witch without dislodging Misty’s magical hand.

 

Coco’s eyes were round.  She was turned on even as she was freaked out.  “Eep.”

 

Misty looked down at Zoe, her hand stilling.  “Sorry sweets. I think that was yes,” she said gently.   Her other hand trailed over Zoe’s slick back as she heaved in a breath.

 

Zoe looked at Coco, a firm look in her eyes.  “Go. Get three bananas, a spool of silk and a block of oak then come back.”

 

Misty looked down confused as Coco raced out.  “What’re those for?” the swamp witch asked.

 

“Fuck all.  You can not leave me like this,” she growled, her deep sexual frustration very apparent.  They could afford a few minutes while Coco chased geese to take care of this need.

 

Misty gave Zoe’s ass a little more glow and set about finishing what she started.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Coco perked up as the other two witches came down the hall, hand in hand.  “Sorry. You said to tell you when they…” she said shrugging and looking around embarrassed.  She was geeked that her friends were hooking up, but actually seeing it definitely left her a little ready for something she didn’t have right now.

 

Misty smiled at the other woman.  “ ‘salright Coco. Wasn’t your fault.  We don’t have a van to rock so ya didn’t know not to knock.”  She thought the whole thing was hilarious in hindsight. Zoe was still distinctly annoyed about the interruption.

 

Coco grimaced.  “I kinda messed the van up didn’t I?” she said referencing her gargoyle induced crash.  She rubbed her toe into the wooden floor and leaned into the wall chewing her lip.

 

Zoe squeezed her shoulders.  “All in a good cause.” Zoe affirmed cheerfully.

 

“I got the stuff,”  Coco said with a smile, excited at having helped.  She indicated a shopping bag nearby.

 

The Council member shook her head with a chuckle and squeezed her arm gently. “Put it back later. False alarm.”  Zoe stepped forward and knocked on the bedroom door. “You two ready to come out?” she called out.

 

There was a bit of rustling and a minute later came a chorus of yes.  

 

Zoe looked to Misty and Coco with a grin.  “You two going to kill us?” she called out half joking.

 

It was a bit more than a minute before the chorus of no came through the warded door.

 

“Operation Mouse Trap just became Three Dead Mice,” Zoe quipped as she opened the door.  She smiled as she caught sight of Mallory. “Cordelia, I had no idea you were so fond of giving hickeys.  Wow.”

 

Cordelia raised her brow at the three other women.  “My office, 9 am tomorrow.” she ordered as she rebuttoned.  Stupid buttons needed to go with their stupid holes.

 

Mallory leaned in the doorway with a grin and winked at her friends.  She absently finger combed her hair back.

 

Coco stepped close to Mallory and raised her eyebrows.  “You okay?” she asked with a smile. She sniffed. “Oh yeah hot monkey sex.   Good news is eating pussy is remarkably low in carbs.” She grinned as Mallory gave her a little arm punch.

 

The two other woman looked at Cordelia who suddenly had pink cheeks and an urge to go elsewhere.  “9 am ladies.” she called out behind her as she moved swiftly toward the other wing.

 

Mallory squeezed Coco’s arm with a laugh and followed her Supreme toward her personal room.  A few hours was hardly a start after all.

 

Misty looked at Zoe, her smile fading as she took in the Councillor’s serious expression.  “What’s going on Zoe?” she asked, concern coloring her voice.

 

Zoe sighed.  “Your project is done here.  You’ll be wanting to go back.”

 

“Always could get another project…”  Misty said with a grin.

 

“What project?”  She suddenly looked at Coco who was smiling happily knowing Mallory was happy.  Misty followed her eyes. Her brows rose.

 

Coco finally registered what they were talking about.  “Me? A project to get me laid. Oh god, yes. I so need some romance in my life again.”

 

Zoe laughed.  “Well Yoda Mouse, it appears Carby Mouse is all for being your next project.”

 

Misty moved around to slip her arm through Coco’s and kissed her cheek.  “I figure we can get you sorted.”

 

“Do I really have to be Carby Mouse?”

 

“Yes,” came from two throats as the women began moving down the long hall to begin plotting.

 

                                                                  **THE END**

 


End file.
